Thursday, December 20, 2012

Tough Night for the Hawks

Mr. Brennan's 40th class reunion was in attendance under the alumni tent.

The crowd was enormous.

And a Super Bowl re-match between the state's football archrivals was center stage. Plain and simple, the joint was jumpin'.

As 6-0 LaSalle Academy came marching into our house Friday night, our entire community - especially #Mangate - was more than prepared to remind the Rams and their fans of "The Catch", as pictures of it were everywhere. While there was certainly no one prepared to pull a Joe Willie Namath and guarantee a victory against such a talented and determined team, almost to a man everyone expected a battle. A gridiron war.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way.

The Rams' powerful, talented, and extremely fast offense was on full display and in high gear, as they jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead and then methodically and seemingly at will moved the ball up-and-down the field en route to a 28-0 fourth quarter lead, the only hiccup in their evening coming when our guys managed to punch one across the goal line late in the game.

Final Score: Rams 28, Hawks 7.

Admittedly, the night belonged to the Rams; however, our guys fought all night, as evidenced in some of the game's highlights:

Knowing our players and coaches as we do, there's no question that any of them will offer excuses for the defeat and will more than likely tip their helmets to the Rams and accept the defeat as the result of having been beaten, plain and simple. I expect our guys will lick their wounds, deal with it, and then move on. There's a regular season to finish and playoffs for which to prepare.As we all know, if last year is any lesson, anything can happen, and it's not as though our guys won't be prepared to succeed later this month and early next month.While the Hawks were clearly outplayed, our cause wasn't helped by the injury to Mario McClain; as more than a few people pointed out, once the big guy went down - even though our linemen continued to fight - the line as a whole seemed to be somewhat out of sorts. That, however, clearly does not in any way provide a reason for the scope of the loss.The Hawks are off until Wednesday night the 21st, when they'll meet Thanksgiving rival Toll Gate the night before the holiday. Game time is 7:00 pm. In our house.Hopefully, the joint will be jumpin' once again. And the Hawks Sports Network will be on the scene.